College Football: Oregon rebounds with win over Oregon State

Oregon wide receiver Will Murphy, right, holds off Oregon State defender Tyrequek Zimmerman during the second half of their NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Oregon won 48-24. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Kenjon Barner ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns despite leaving the game for a time with an injury and No. 5 Oregon defeated No. 16 Oregon State 48-24 in the Civil War on Saturday, keeping alive the Ducks’ hopes for a spot in the Pac-12 title game and even an outside chance at the national championship.

De’Anthony Thomas, who helped picked up the slack while Barner was on the sidelines, ran for 122 yards and three scores for the Ducks (11-1, 8-1).

After Oregon’s undefeated season was thwarted by a 17-14 overtime loss to Stanford last weekend, the Ducks had to wait for UCLA’s game against the Cardinal later Saturday to see who would be headed to the conference championship game. Both Oregon and Stanford started the day with one conference loss in the league’s northern division.

It was Oregon’s fifth straight victory in the 116-game rivalry series with the Beavers.

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While the Civil War is normally the season finale for both teams, Oregon State (8-3, 6-3) will host Nicholls State next Saturday in a matchup that was supposed to open the season but was put off when Hurricane Isaac bore down on the Colonels’ Thibodaux, La., campus.

The Beavers will have to wait to find out where they’re headed for a bowl game, but already their season can be counted a success after they went just 3-9 last year.

Barner appeared to hurt either his abdomen or ribs late in the first half and headed to the locker room. He returned after the break, but much of the work went to Thomas until he returned on a scoring drive that made it 41-17 early in the fourth quarter.

Oregon redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota threw for 140 yards and a score, and also ran for 85 yards and a touchdown.

His Oregon State counterpart, Sean Mannion, threw for 311 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted four times. Storm Woods rushed for 70 yards and two scores.

Mannion started the first four games of the season, throwing seven touchdowns and averaging 339 yards, but injured his left knee and required surgery. Vaz, who hadn’t started since high school, took over and helped the Beavers to win in the next two games, and later became the team’s starter.

But Vaz sprained his left ankle in the final moments of a loss to Stanford two weeks ago, and sat out last Saturday during Oregon State’s 64-14 victory at home over California. Mannion got the nod for the Civil War.

A 47,249 fans attended the game, setting Reser Stadium record.

Oregon put the Stanford loss behind them by striking quickly on their first possession with Mariota’s 42-yard keeper. The touchdown drive took just 1:46, but the Ducks’ 2-point try to cap it off failed.

The Beavers took a 7-6 lead on Woods’ 7-yard touchdown run, but the Ducks answered on the next series with Thomas’ 2-yard TD dash. Barner added a 1-yard scoring run before he was hurt.

Stanford held Barner to 66 yards the week before, but he had 141 yards before halftime against the Beavers. With his first 15 yards rushing Saturday, he moved past Derek Loville (1986-89) for second on Oregon’s career rushing list.

Trevor Romaine kicked a 36-yard field goal to narrow it to 20-10 at halftime and the Beavers pulled closer with Woods’ 2-yard scoring run on their first series of the second half.

It was all Ducks the rest of the way. Thomas scored on a 6-yard run to extend Oregon’s lead to 27-17, before the Ducks capitalized on a Beaver fumble that led to Thomas’ 29-yard touchdown run. Barner returned with his 1-yard run and Mariota found B.J. Kelley with a 2-yeard scoring pass.

Mannion hit Micah Hatfield with a 6-yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left for the final margin.

The Ducks hold a 60-46-10 advantage in the Civil War which dates back to 1894 and is the seventh-most contested rivalry in the nation.

It was the fourth time that both teams were ranked for the Civil War. The last was in 2009, when Oregon was No. 7 and Oregon State was No. 13. That game was dubbed the “War of the Roses” because the winner was guaranteed a Rose Bowl berth. Oregon won 37-33.